'Battering-ram' definitions:

Definition of 'Battering-ram'

From: GCIDE

Battering-ram \Bat"ter*ing-ram`\, n.
1. (Mil.) An engine used in ancient times to beat down the walls of besieged places. [1913 Webster]
Note: It was a large beam, with a head of iron, which was sometimes made to resemble the head of a ram. It was suspended by ropes to a beam supported by posts, and so balanced as to swing backward and forward, and was impelled by men against the wall. --Grose. [1913 Webster]
2. A blacksmith's hammer, suspended, and worked horizontally. [1913 Webster]